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INFORMATION TO USERS While the most advanced technology has been used to photograph and reproduce this manuscript, the quality of the reproduction is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material submitted. For example: • Manuscript pages ma y have indistinct print. In such cases, the best available copy has been filmed. • Manuscripts ma y not always be complete. In such cases, a note will indicate that it is not possible to obtain missing pages. • Copyrighted material m a y have been removed from the manuscript. In such cases, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, and charts) are photographed by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each oversize page is also filmed as one exposure and is available, for an additional charge, as a standard 35 m m slide or as a 17”x 23” black and white photographic print. Most photographs reproduce acceptably on positive microfilm or microfiche but lack the clarity on xerographic copies made from the microfilm. For an additional charge, 3 5 m m slides of 6”x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations that cannot be reproduced satisfactorily by xerography. 8625223 Grupenhoff, Richard L. WHATEVER THE OCCASION DEMANDS: THE STAGE AND SCREEN CAREER OF LORENZO TUCKER, "THE COLORED VALENTINO" The Ohio State University Ph.D. 1986 University Microfilms International300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 Copyright 1986 by Grupenhoff, Richard L. All Rights Reserved PLEASE NOTE: In all cases this material has been filmed in the best possible way from the available copy. Problems encountered with this document have been identified herewith a checkV mark . 1. Glossy photographs or pages / 2. Colored illustrations, paper or print______ 3. Photographs with dark background t / 4. Illustrations are poor copy_______ 5. 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Other________________________________________________________________________ University Microfilms International WHATEVER THE OCCASION DEMANDS: THE STAGE AND SCREEN CAREER OF LORENZO TUCKER, "THE COLORED VALENTINO" DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Richard L. Grupenhoff, B.S., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1986 Reading Committee: Approved By Professor Alan Woods Professor Roy Bowen Professor George Crepeau Professor Clay Lowe Advisor Department of Theatre Copyright by Richard L. Grupenhoff For Lorenzo Tucker ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank all those who have given me their support during this undertaking. My sincere appreciation goes to my advisor, Dr. Alan Woods, for his guidance and suggestions throughout my research, and to the other members of my reading committee, Drs. Roy Bowen, George Crepeau and Clay Lowe for their comments and support. My gratitude also goes to Ms. Kathy Loughney of the Motion Picture Division of the Library of Congress for her valuable assistance. I also thank my colleagues Drs. E. Michael Desilets and J. Denis Mercier for their critiques of the developing manuscript, and Cheryl Belfiglio and Pam Spencer for their help in preparing the text. Finally, I should thank my sons, Richard and James, and my wife, Carolyn, for their encouragement and faith in this endeavor. VITA September 2, 1 9 4 1 ................Born - Cincinnati, Ohio 1966 ............................. B.S. (English), Xavier University Cincinnati, Ohio 1968 ............................. M.A. (American Studies), Purdue University, W. Lafayette, Indiana 1968-1970 .... ................ N.D.E.A. Graduate Fellow, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1970-1971 ......................... Schubert Playwrighting Fellow, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1971-1972 ......................... Graduate Assistant, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1975-1986 ......................... Assistant Professor (Communications) Glassboro State College, Glassboro, New Jersey PUBLICATIONS "The Lord Mayors' Shows: From Their Origins to 1640." Theatre Studies 18 (1971/72): 13-22. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Theatre Studies in Theatre History and Criticism. Professor Alan Woods. Studies in Acting and Directing, and Experimental Theatre. Professor Roy Bowen. Studies in Dramatic Literature. Professor George Crepeau. Studies in Film Theory and History. Professor Clay Lowe. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................... iii VITA ................................................................. iv LIST OF PLATES ............................. vii CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION ................................................ I Purpose of the Study .................................. 1 Sources and Methods .................................. 5 Evidence and Scholarship ............................. 10 II. EARLY YEARS, 1907-1926 19 Childhood and Early Education ................ • • • 19 High School and College D a y s ......................... 31 Atlantic City, 1926 35 III. APPRENTICESHIP, 1926-1927 42 Entering the Black Theatrical Tradition ........... 42 From Baltimore to New Y o r k ........................... 50 IV. THE EARLY FILMS OF LORENZO T U C K E R ........................ 67 Black Images in White F i l m s ......................... 67 The Rise of Race M o v i e s ........... 70 Oscar Micheaux ........... 74 "The Colored Valentino" ............................. 79 Light Skin in Black F i l m s ........................... 88 Working with Micheaux ................................ 97 Other F i l m s ........................................... 107 v V. FROM HARLEM TO BROADWAY ................................... 113 The Harlem Renaissance ............................... 113 On the R o a d ...................... 115 Broadway Years ............... 120 The End of an E r a ............................ 131 VI. MIDDLE YEARS, 1933-1962 ................................... 135 Depression D a y s ............... 135 Pre-War Years ........................................ 141 The War Y e a r s ........................................ 148 Post-War Years ........................................ 153 On the Road A g a i n .................................... 161 VII. LATER YEARS, 1962-1986 . 159 Black Film and Theatre in Transition ................ jgg "Doctor" T u c k e r ............. jjg Witness and Historian ............................... ^yy Show Business A g a i n ................................. j q q VIII. SUMMARY ... 186 APPENDIX: THE FILMOGRAPHY OF LORENZO TUCKER .................... 192 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................ 193 vi LIST OF PLATES* PLATE PAGE I. John Tucker (c. 1867-1913) .................................. 22 II. Virginia Lee Tucker (c. 1880-1963) ......................... 24 III. Lorenzo Tucker, 1908 ......................................... 25 IV. Lorenzo Tucker, c. 1927 61 V. Rae Hewitt, c. 1935 62 VI. Lobby poster from Oscar Micheaux's Wages of Sin (1928) . 83 VII. Production still from Oscar Micheaux's When Men Betray ( 1 9 2 9 ) ........................................................ 84 VIII. Production program from Oscar Micheaux's A Daughter of the Congo (1930) ............................................. 91 IX. Lobby poster from Oscar Micheaux's The Exile (1931) .. 95 X. Production still from Oscar Micheaux's Harlem After Midnight (1934) 104 XI. Production still from Oscar Micheaux's Harlem After Midnight (1934) 105 XII. Production program from Oscar Micheaux's Harlem After Midnight (1934) 106 XIII. Production still from Southland Pictures' The Black King (1932) ................................................. 108 XIV. Lobby poster from Southland Pictures' The Black King ( 1 9 3 2 ) ........................................................ 109 XV. Production still probably from Oscar Micheaux's Temptation (1936) 138 * All photographs from the Lorenzo Tucker Collection, Los Angeles, California. vii PLATE PAGE XVI. Production still from Million Dollar Pictures' Straight to Heaven (1938) ............................. 144 XVII. Production team in support of A. Philip Randolph's "March on Washington," 1942 ............................. 147 XVIII. Sgt. Lorenzo Tucker, U.S. Army Air Corps, 1944 .... 152 XIX. Lobby poster from Sepia Productions' One-Round Jones (1946) ............................................. 156 XX. Lobby poster from Astor Pictures' Reet-Petite and Gone (1-947)............................................... 158 XXI. Production still from Anna Lucasta stage tour of British Isles, 1953-54 165 XXII. Lorenzo Tucker and Milton Helpren, Chief Medical Examiner of New York City, 1973 .......................... 176 XXIII. Lorenzo Tucker and Paulina Segura Tucker, 1983 .... 183 XXIV. Lorenzo Tucker